RULE 150. BENCH WARRANTS.

(A) In a court case when a bench warrant is executed, the case is to proceed in 

accordance with the following procedures.

(1) When a defendant or witness is arrested pursuant to a bench warrant, he or 

she shall be taken without unnecessary delay for a hearing on the bench warrant. 

The hearing shall be conducted by the judicial officer who issued the bench 

warrant, or, another judicial officer designated by the president judge or by the 

president judge's designee to conduct bench warrant hearings.

(2) In the discretion of the judicial officer, the bench warrant hearing may be 

conducted using two-way simultaneous audio-visual communication. 

(3) When the individual is arrested in the county of issuance, if the bench 

warrant hearing cannot be conducted promptly after the arrest, the defendant or 

witness shall be lodged in the county jail pending the hearing. The authority in 

charge of the county jail promptly shall notify the court that the individual is being 

held pursuant to the bench warrant.

(4) When the individual is arrested outside the county of issuance, the authority 

in charge of the county jail promptly shall notify the proper authorities in the

county of issuance that the individual is being held pursuant to the bench 

warrant.

(5) The bench warrant hearing shall be conducted without unnecessary delay 

after the individual is lodged in the jail of the county of issuance on that bench 

warrant. 

(a) When the bench warrant is issued by the supervising judge of a “multicounty” investigating grand jury, the individual shall be detained only until 

the supervising judge is available to conduct the bench warrant hearing.

(b) In all other cases, the individual shall not be detained without a bench 

warrant hearing on that bench warrant longer than 72 hours, or the close 

of the next business day if the 72 hours expires on a non-business day.

(6) At the conclusion of the bench warrant hearing following the disposition of 

the matter, the judicial officer immediately shall vacate the bench warrant.

(7) If a bench warrant hearing is not held within the time limits in paragraph 

(A)(5)(b), the bench warrant shall expire by operation of law.

(B) As used in this rule, "judicial officer" is limited to the magisterial district judge or

common pleas court judge who issued the bench warrant, or the magisterial district 

judge or common pleas court judge designated by the president judge or by the 

president judge’s designee to conduct bench warrant hearings, or in Philadelphia, trial 
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commissioners and Philadelphia Municipal Court judges.

COMMENT: This rule addresses only the procedures to be 

followed after a bench warrant is executed, and does not 

apply to execution of bench warrants outside the 

Commonwealth, which are governed by the extradition 

procedures in 42 Pa.C.S. § 9101 et seq., or to warrants 

issued in connection with probation or parole proceedings. 

For the bench warrant procedures when a witness is under 

the age of 18 years, see Rule 151.

Paragraph (A)(2) permits the bench warrant hearing to be 

conducted using two-way simultaneous audio-visual 

communication, which is a form of advanced communication 

technology. See Rule 103. Utilizing this technology will aid 

the court in complying with this rule, and in ensuring 

individuals arrested on bench warrants are not detained 

unnecessarily.

Once a bench warrant is executed and the defendant is 

taken into custody, the bench warrant no longer is valid.

To ensure compliance with the prompt bench warrant 

hearing requirement, the president judge or the president 

judge’s designee may designate only a magisterial district 

judge to cover for magisterial district judges or a common 

pleas court judge to cover for common pleas court judges. 

See also Rule 132 for the temporary assignment of 

magisterial district judges. In Philadelphia, the current 

practice of designating trial commissioners and 

Philadelphia Municipal Court judges to conduct bench 

warrant hearings is acknowledged in paragraph (B). 

It is expected that the practices in some judicial districts of a 

common pleas court judge (1) indicating on a bench warrant 

the judge has issued that the bench warrant is a “judge only” 

bench warrant, or (2) who knows he or she will be 

unavailable asking another common pleas court judge to 

handle his or her cases during the common pleas court 

judge's absence, would continue. 

Paragraph (A)(5)(a) recognizes the procedural and 

substantive differences between “multi-county” investigating 

grand jury proceedings and all other proceedings in the court 

of common pleas, including a county investigating grand 
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jury, by eliminating the time limit for conducting the bench 

warrant hearing when the bench warrant is issued by the 

multi-county investigating grand jury supervising judge. See

Rules 240-244 and 42 Pa.C.S. § 4544. When the 

supervising judge issues a bench warrant, the bench warrant 

hearing must be conducted expeditiously when the 

supervising judge is available.

Paragraph (A)(6) requires the judicial officer to vacate the 

bench warrant at the conclusion of the bench warrant 

hearing. The current practice in some judicial districts of 

having the clerk of courts cancel the bench warrant upon 

receipt of a return of service is consistent with this 

paragraph, as long as the clerk of courts promptly provides 

notice of the return of service to the issuing judge.

It is incumbent upon the president judge or the president 

judge’s designee to establish procedures for the monitoring

of the time individuals are detained pending their bench 

warrant hearing.

For the procedures concerning violation of the conditions of 

bail, see Chapter 5 Part C.

As used in this rule, "court" includes magisterial district judge 

courts.

For the bench warrant procedures in summary cases, see 

Rules 430(B) and 431(C).

For procedures for the detention of witnesses, see Rule 

522.

For the arrest warrants that initiate proceedings in court 

cases, see Chapter 5, Part B(3)(a), Rules 513, 514, 515, 

516, 517, and 518. For the arrest warrants that initiate 

proceedings in summary cases, see Chapter 4, Part D(1), 

Rules 430(A) and 431(B).

NOTE: Adopted December 30, 2005, effective August 1, 

2006; Comment revised October 24, 2013, effective January 

1, 2014 [.] ; amended December 7, 2018, effective April 1, 

2019.
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* * * * * *

COMMITTEE EXPLANATORY REPORTS:

Final Report explaining new Rule 150 providing procedures for 

bench warrants published with the Court’s Order at 36 Pa.B. 184, 

2006 (January 14, 2006).

Final Report explaining the October 24, 2013 Comment revision 

adding a cross-reference to new Rule 151 published with the Court’s 

Order at 43 Pa.B. 6654 (November 9, 2013).

Final Report explaining the December 7, 2018 amendment regarding 

procedures for the detention of witnesses pursuant to Rule 522 

published with the Court’s Order at 48 Pa.B. ( , 2018).
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RULE 151. BENCH WARRANT PROCEDURES WHEN WITNESS IS UNDER AGE OF 

 18 YEARS.

(A) In a court case when a bench warrant for a witness under the age of 18 years is 

executed, except as provided in this rule, the case is to proceed in accordance with the 

procedures in Rule 150. 

(B) Upon execution of the warrant for a minor witness, the arresting officer immediately 

shall inform the proper judicial officer and a parent or guardian of the minor witness of 

the arrest of the minor witness. 

(C) Execution of Bench Warrant in County of Issuance

(1) If the judicial officer who issued the bench warrant, or another judicial officer 

designated by the president judge or by the president judge’s designee, is not 

available to conduct the bench warrant hearing without unnecessary delay, the 

minor witness shall be taken before the on-call judge of the court of common 

pleas. 

(a) The on-call judge shall determine whether to release the witness or to 

detain the witness pending the bench warrant hearing. If the bench 

warrant specifically orders detention of the minor witness, the on-call 

judge shall not release the witness. 

(b) If the on-call judge determines the witness must be detained, the 

witness shall be detained in a detention facility. The on-call judge shall 

notify the parent or guardian of the minor witness of the detention. 

(2) The minor witness shall not be detained without a bench warrant hearing on 

that bench warrant longer than 24 hours, or the close of the next business day if 

the 24 hours expires on a non-business day. 

(D) Execution of Bench Warrant Outside County of Issuance

(1) The minor witness shall be taken before a common pleas court judge of the 

county of arrest without unnecessary delay and in no case later than the end of 

the next business day. 

(2) The judge shall identify the minor witness as the subject of the bench 

warrant, decide whether detention as a minor witness is necessary, and order 

that arrangements be made immediately to transport the minor witness to the 

county of issuance. 

(3) If transportation cannot be arranged immediately, the minor witness shall be 

released unless the bench warrant specifically orders detention of the witness. In 
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this case, the minor witness shall be detained in an out-of-county detention 

facility. 

(4) If detention is ordered, the minor witness shall be brought to the county of 

issuance within 72 hours from the execution of the bench warrant. 

(5) If the time requirements of this paragraph are not met, the minor witness 

shall be released.

COMMENT: This rule was adopted in 2013 to establish the 

procedures when a witness subject to a bench warrant is 

under the age of 18. The procedures following the execution 

of a bench warrant set forth in Rule 150 apply to cases when 

the witness is under the age of 18, except as otherwise 

provided in this rule. 

Paragraph (B) ensures that the judicial officer who issued 

the bench warrant is aware that the minor witness has been 

arrested, and that a parent or guardian of the arrested minor 

witness is notified of the arrest. 

The procedures in paragraph (C) for cases in which the 

bench warrant is executed in the county of issuance, 

recognize the need, when the issuing judicial officer is 

unavailable, to conduct the bench warrant hearing, for the 

common pleas court judge who is on call to determine 

whether a minor witness may be released or must be 

detained. If the minor witness is detained, the bench warrant 

hearing must be held no later than the end of the next 

business day. If the bench warrant hearing is not conducted

within this time period, the minor witness must be released. 

The minor witness may not be detained in an adult facility 

pending a bench warrant hearing. 

In cases in which the bench warrant is executed outside the 

county of issuance, the minor witness must be transported to 

the county of issuance within 72 hours of the execution of 

the bench warrant, and the bench warrant hearing must be 

conducted by the end of the next business day. 

As used in this rule, ‘‘minor witness’’ means a witness who is 

under the age of 18 years, and ‘‘proper judicial officer’’ 

means the judicial officer who issued the bench warrant, or, 
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another judicial officer designated by the president judge or 

by the president judge’s designee.

When a witness under the age of 18 years is to be 

detained pursuant to Rule 522, the procedures in this 

rule are applicable.

NOTE: Adopted October 24, 2013, effective January 1, 2014 

[.] ; Comment revised December 7, 2018, effective April 

1, 2019.

* * * * * *

COMMITTEE EXPLANATORY REPORTS:

Final Report explaining the October 24, 2013 adoption of new Rule 

151 providing procedures for bench warrants when a witness is under 

the age of 18 published with the Court’s Order at 43 Pa.B. 6655 

(November 9, 2013).

Final Report explaining the December 7, 2018 Comment revision 

regarding procedures for the detention of witnesses pursuant to Rule 

522 published with the Court’s Order at 48 Pa.B. ( , 

2018).
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RULE 522. DETENTION OF WITNESSES.

(A) After an accused has been arrested for any offense, upon application of the 

attorney for the Commonwealth or defense counsel, and subject to the provisions of this 

chapter, a court may set bail for any material witness named in the application. The 

application shall be supported by an affidavit setting forth adequate cause for the court 

to conclude that the witness will fail to appear when required if not held in custody or 

released on bail. Upon receipt of the application, the court may issue process to bring 

any named witnesses before it for the purpose of demanding bail.

(B) If the material witness is unable to satisfy the conditions of the bail bond after 

having been given immediate and reasonable opportunity to do so, the court shall 

commit the witness to jail, provided that at any time thereafter and prior to the term of 

court for which the witness is being held, the court shall release the witness when the 

witness satisfies the conditions of the bail bond.

(C) Upon application, a court may release a witness from custody with or without bond, 

or grant other appropriate relief.

(D) If process has been issued pursuant to paragraph (A) for a material witness 

who is under the age of 18 years, the procedures provided in Rule 151 shall 

apply. 

COMMENT: This rule does not permit a witness to be 

detained prior to the arrest of the defendant, since an 

arrest might never take place and the witness could be 

held indefinitely.

"Conditions of the bail bond" as used in this rule include 

the conditions set forth in Rule 526(A) and the conditions 

of release defined in Rules 524, 527, and 528.

Pursuant to paragraph (C), a witness may be released on 

his or her own recognizance conditioned upon the witness' 

written agreement to appear as required. See Rule 524.

This rule does not affect the compensation and expenses 

of witnesses under the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 5903, 

or the provisions of the Uniform Act to Secure the 

Attendance of Witnesses from Within or Without a State in 
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Criminal Proceedings. See 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 5963(c) and 

5964(b) relating to bail.

In cases in which bail is set for a material witness pursuant 

to this rule, the court should consider all the types of 

release permitted in Rule 524 and the conditions of 

nonmonetary release upon bail available under Rule 527. 

When a material witness is to be detained, the court 

should impose the least restrictive means of assuring that 

witness’ presence, including the use of release on the 

witness’ own recognizance or release upon other 

nonmonetary conditions, such as electronic monitoring, 

especially when the witness has limited financial means to 

post monetary bail. 

NOTE: Former Rule 4017, previously Rule 4014, adopted 

November 22, 1965, effective June 1, 1966; renumbered 

Rule 4017 July 23, 1973, effective 60 days hence; Comment

revised January 28, 1983, effective July 1, 1983; rescinded 

September 13, 1995, effective January 1, 1996, and 

replaced by present Rule 522. Present Rule 4017 adopted 

September 13, 1995, effective January 1, 1996. The 

January 1, 1996 effective dates extended to April 1, 1996; 

the April 1, 1996 effective date extended to July 1, 1996;

renumbered Rule 522 and amended March 1, 2000, 

effective April 1, 2001; Comment revised April 28, 2006, 

effective August 1, 2006 [.] ; amended December 7, 2018, 

effective April 1, 2019.

* * * * * *

COMMITTEE EXPLANATORY REPORTS:

Final Report explaining the provisions of the new rule published 

with Court's Order at 25 Pa.B. 4116 (September 30, 1995).

Final Report explaining the March 1, 2000 reorganization and 

renumbering of the rules published with the Court’s Order at 30 

Pa.B. 1477 (March 18, 2000).
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Final Report explaining the April 28, 2006 revision to the Comment

concerning electronic monitoring published with the Court’s Order 

at 36 Pa.B. 2279 (May 13, 2006). 

Final Report explaining the December 7, 2018 amendments 

concerning material witnesses under the age of 18 years published 

with the Court’s Order at 48 Pa.B. ( , 2018).